UAE launches app to assist Indians seeking work visas
Most procedures that were earlier done in the UAE are now done here. The app will facilitate visa applications and make things easier.
AHMED AL BANNA,
UAE ambassador
NEWDELHI: The United Arab Emirates has launched a smartphone app for Indians seeking work visas that is aimed at streamlining the process and completing most of the procedures in India so that applicants can make a hassle-free entry into the workforce.
Currently available in Hindi and English for Android platforms, the app will soon be rolled out in Malayalam in view of the large number of people from Kerala who apply for work visas.
“Much of the procedures that were earlier done in the UAE are now done here. The app will facilitate visa applications and make things easier,” UAE ambassador Ahmed Al Banna said on Monday. The app gives guidelines and directions to make the journey safe and hassle-free. It is meant to work like a map with key waypoints along with guidelines to finish a particular process, such as mandatory medical checkup, attestation of documents and police clearance certificate.
“Earlier the checks were done in the UAE, now they are done in India. We want to cut down the hardships for India and the applicants can now start working within a day of arriving in the UAE,” said Al Banna.
The UAE currently has three visa centres in India — Delhi, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram — and the one in Delhi alone issued about 50,000 work visas last year. A total of 1.6 million Indians visited the UAE last year while Indian visitors to Dubai alone crossed the 1-million mark during January-september 2017.
The UAE is home to an Indian expatriate community of more than 2.6 million, the largest in the country. Professionally qualified workers make up about 20% of the community, followed by 20% white-collar non-professionals and the remainder are blue-collar workers. Al Banna also said the countries were close to a major breakthrough in resolving the problems linked to investments by DP World, a leading operator of marine and inland ports. The problems linked to investments by Etisalat and Emaar are still being looked at, he said.